Too Many Pranks
by Hannahfour
Summary: Guthrie and Heidi love to prank their brothers. But this time they might have gone too far.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey! Who put baby powder in my hairdryer?" Hannah yells coming out of the bathroom. Hannah is standing there with wet hair and she has baby powder all over her! My brothers come out of their rooms and laugh when they see her.

"Which one of you boys did this?" She asks shaking her finger at everyone.

"Not me," Evan and Ford say, laughing at her.

Adam comes over to her and gives her a kiss, "I don't know Honey, but it sure is a good look for you," he teases her. "Very funny," she says, giving him a big hug so he has baby powder on him too.

"It wasn't me Hannah," Daniel says, "but I think you should ask the two kids giggling downstairs on the couch." Hannah looks down at me and Guthrie and we burst out laughing. Hannah puts her hands on her hips and says, "not funny you two!" But she gives us a tiny smile as she goes back in the bathroom and we can hear the water running.

Everyone laughs and Brian says, "looks like she's officially a part of the family."

"I heard that!" Hannah yells from the bathroom and everyone laughs more.

Guthrie and I love to prank people. It's one of our favorite things to do to our brothers. Usually they don't mind and they think it's funny. It just depends on the prank. Sometimes they try to prank us back. Brian's taught us everything we know. Lots of times he says he regrets doing that.

A little while later Hannah comes downstairs and she's washed the baby powder out of her hair. Her hair is fixed and she's got a new shirt on. I think she always looks so pretty. "Sorry Hannah," we say giggling. "Ok you two," she smiles at us. "Lets get going. Ford are you ready?" She calls upstairs. "Coming," he says racing down the stairs.

We have to go to the library today. Guthrie and I hate the library. We begged Adam to let us stay home but he said no. My brothers need to help a neighbor fix his fence and Adam said he doesn't want us home alone. "We're just gonna go exploring for a little bit. Pleeeese," I said, looking up at him with my biggest smile. He still said no. He said he wasn't in the mood to go searching for us today. So, off to the library we go.

We head out to the truck. The library's not my favorite place. Reading is not really my favorite thing to do. In school my teacher is always making me read some boring book when I'd rather be outside playing. Another reason why I hate the library is I have to be quiet in there. That's really hard for me to do. Especially if Guthrie's there too.

Guthrie and I always end up looking at magazines and laughing at the pictures. One time we saw a picture of this really fat pig. The fattest pig we've ever seen and it was laying on it's side with all it's teets showing. She must of had twenty of them. Guthrie and I laughed so hard the librarian made us sit at a table with nothing to read or look at. She told us to stay there until Crane was done finding his book over on the other side of the library. He wasn't too happy with us. And he apologized to the librarian a lot.

Guthrie and I don't like the librarian, Ms. Pricket. She's old and mean. All my brothers know her because she's been the librarian forever. Brian says she's crabby. I don't think he likes her either. But Guthrie and I think she's mean. She doesn't like us. Whenever we walk into the library she always lowers her glasses to the tip of her nose and glares at us. "No noise out of you two today," she always says pointing her wrinkly old finger at us. We always nod and make our way to the children's section.

Hannah drives to the library, but she doesn't get out. "I'll be back in a little while." Guthrie and I look at each other and smile.

"Um, Hannah, are you sure you want to do that?" Ford asks.

"I'll only be gone for about a half hour Ford." She waves to us and drives to the General Store.

Ford looks at us and he looks a little nervous. "Please don't do anything wrong in there. Please?" He pleads with us. We smile at him and say, "ok."

When we walk in the library Ms. Pricket is right there in front sitting at her desk. "Why hello Ford," she says smiling at him, "can I help you find anything?"

"Oh, no thanks. I just need to look at the encyclopedias for a while." And he heads over to that section.

After he's gone she immediately glares at us with her glasses on the tip of her nose and says, "not a peep out of you two today or I will call Adam and tell him you're not allowed back." Sometimes I hate living in a small town where everyone knows me. Guthrie and I nod our heads and go over to the magazines in the children's section.

The magazines look boring today. This is no fun. We decide to go to the adult side of the library and look at their magazines. We wait till Ms. Pricket is busy and sneak over.

"Look at this one," I giggle. It has a picture of an old naked lady on it. I think she's an Indian 'cause she's wearing feathers in her hair. Guthrie laughs. "Shh!" A lady says to us from a nearby table. We smile and look at more pictures. "Guthrie giggles and says, "look at this!" He shows me a picture of an old wrinkly man eating a huge beetle. "Eew! That's gross," I say and we both laugh. "Alright you two! Sit!" The librarian points to a table and we go sit.

We watch her go to her desk and pick up the phone. We smile at each other because we know no one's home to answer her call. We see a basket of books on the table and start looking at them.

"No way!" Guthrie whispers. He shows me a small thin book that says 'Top 100 Pranks'. "We have to check it out," he whispers.

"There's no way _she's_ gonna let us do that," I whisper pointing to Ms. Pricket. "Maybe Hannah will," I add.

Guthrie sighs. "After what we did to Hannah this morning there's no way she will," he says. We sit and think.

"I know," I say while looking in the basket of books. I find a big picture book. "We can hide it in this," I say holding it up.

Guthrie looks at it. "That's a princess book Heidi," Guthrie says laughing.

I shrug my shoulders. "So. Maybe I want to read it."

Guthrie laughs, "yeah right!"

I put the prank book inside the princess book. It could work. Just then we see Hannah walking into the library.

We watch the librarian talk to her and she's pointing at us. Hannah looks at us and she doesn't look happy. Ford walks over to us and whispers, "what'd you do this time?" "Nothing," we say smiling. "I don't believe you for a second." I stick my tongue out at him. Hannah is at our table now. "Let's go you two," she whispers a little angrily. "Hannah, will you check this book out for me?" I hold it up to her. "Pleeeeease?" I smile up at her. She looks at it. "Ok," she says, slowly. She looks a little confused.

We get up and go over to Ms. Pricket's desk. Hannah gives us a nudge and we say, "sorry for being loud." Ms. Pricket just glares at us as she checks the book out for Hannah. When we get outside Guthrie and I jump in the back of the truck with our book and Ford sits up front with Hannah and she drives us home.

* * *

When we get home Guthrie and I run up the stairs. "Hey you two, I want to talk to you later," Hannah says while carrying the groceries in. "Ok!" We yell and we run into my room and shut the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Guthrie and I kneel on the floor of my bedroom and he puts the books on my bed. I throw the princess book on the floor and Guthrie opens the prank book and starts to read it out loud. It has lots of funny pranks in it. We stay up there reading the book and planning our pranks until Hannah calls us down for dinner.

I hide the prank book under my bed and we go downstairs. My brothers are all home now and in the kitchen. As we walk into the kitchen they're all laughing and we hear Evan says, "Hannah, you never leave them at the library by themselves." Guthrie and I freeze.

"Yah, one time Guthrie brought I lizard in and put it on Ms. Pricket's desk," Daniel says. "She screamed and jumped around until Ford found it and put it outside." Everyone laughed. Except for Adam.

He saw us standing there and said, "I'll talk to you two later." "Ooooooh," my brothers all say as we walk in and sit down.

After dinner Adam tells everyone to leave the dishes on the table and he looks down at me and Guthrie and says, "you two stay put." He leaves and goes into the living room and we hear him talk to Hannah. I can't hear what they're saying. We put our elbows on the table and rest our heads in our hands. "We're gonna have to wash _all_ these dishes," Guthrie says grumpily. "I know." I say. We sit there in silence for what seems like forever.

Adam walks in and stands by the table looking down at us. "Hannah tells me you were being loud in the library today and Ms. Pricket made you sit at a table?" We nod. "She also says Ms. Pricket doesn't want you two back in the library unless you're with an adult." We look up at him.

"But Adam, we weren't even being loud," Guthrie says.

"Yah, all I did was laugh," I say.

"We've talked about this before and you know how you're supposed to behave in a library." Adam glares at us. He kind of looks like Ms. Pricket for a second. "I'm disappointed in you guys."

"Sorry Adam," we both mumble while looking down at the table.

"And I told you last time I would punish you if it happened again," he says.

"But you know how mean she is," Guthrie says.

"She doesn't like us!" I say.

"Hmmm," Adam says looking at us. "I wonder why." He has a hint of a smile. I kind of smile a little bit too. But then his smile is gone and he says, "you two can do the dishes." I'm not smiling anymore.

"That's not fair!" Guthrie says after Adam leaves. "This is gonna take forever!" We complain to ourselves. And it does take forever.

We hear everyone else in the living room talking and laughing. Then Crane and Daniel start playing their guitars and singing. Then I hear Brian's harmonica. It sounds like fun. I wish I was in there. When we're done with the dishes we're exhausted. We walk into the living room and Adam says, "you guys can go to bed now."

What! One of the worst punishments in my family is to have to go to bed when everyone else is up and having fun. I stomp upstairs to my room. As I'm on the stairs I hear Guthrie say, "well, I can't go to bed." "Oooooh," my brothers say. "And why not?" Adam asks. "Because you're sitting on it," Guthrie says with his hands on his hips. My brothers all laugh. "You can sleep in Ford's bed," Adam tells him. And Guthrie stomps up the stairs with me.

When I'm done getting ready for bed I turn on the little pink lamp sitting on my dresser. My mom and dad bought it for me when I was a baby. That's why it's pink. I like to sleep with it on and I also like to sleep with my door open at least half way. After all, you never know what could be hiding under the bed.

I lay in my bed and listen to everyone downstairs having fun. I wish I was down there. I'm not tired at all. Besides, who could sleep with all the singing going on down there. I pull the prank book out from under my bed. I look at it for a little bit. Guthrie and I have already decided what pranks we want to pull. I can hear it's getting quieter downstairs. My brothers must be going to bed now.

I hear Hannah walking to my room. I quickly hide the prank book under my bed.

"Heidi, are you still awake?" She asks, poking her head into my room. "Yes," I say.

"Can I come in?" "Sure." I scoot over and she sits on my bed. She looks pretty even in her nightgown. She puts her hand on my forehead and slides it down to my cheek. She smiles down at me and I smile at her. Usually my brothers tuck me in at night, but now that Hannah's here she tucks me in sometimes too. I like it when she does.

"I just wanted to say goodnight to you. Do you want me to read the book to you that we checked out at the library today?" She asks. "Sure," I say. She picks it up off the floor and starts reading it.

It's a princess book about Cinderella. I know the story because I have some princess books that Adam and Crane bought me when I was little, and one of them is Cinderella. They used to read them to me but I'm ten now so I don't want them to anymore. I listen to Hannah read the story. Her voice is so pretty. I look at her while she's reading and she reminds me of Snow White. I put my hand on her cheek and feel her soft skin. She stops reading and looks at me.

"Hannah, did you ever wish you were a princess?" I ask. She smiles at me and says, "I did when I was a little girl. My momma even made me a pretty pink princess dress that I used to wear when I had tea parties."

"Was your momma pretty like you?" I ask. Hannah's eyes start to water but she's smiling, "yes she was." She leans down and kisses my forehead.

"I think you look like Snow White," I say smiling. She laughs. "Heidi, I think you know a lot more about princesses than you want everyone to believe." I smile. "Maybe," I say shrugging my shoulders, "but I'm happy being a cowgirl. Besides, I could never wear a princess dress." We both laugh.

Hannah touches my cheek and says, "what if I made you a pretty cowgirl dress?"

"Like one of yours?" I say smiling up at her. "Yes," she says lifting my chin up. I sit up and give her a big hug. She smells like pretty flowers. I lay back down and ask, "Hannah, did you ever want to marry a prince?"

"I think I did marry a prince," she says smiling.

"Adam? He's not a prince," I say giggling.

"Sometimes a prince doesn't look like a prince from a fairy tale book. He doesn't wear fancy clothes or live in a castle. A prince can be someone who is kind, and treats you like you're special. He treats you like a princess," she says smiling at me.

"Oh," I smile. "Then Adam _is_ your prince." I think for a bit, "and _you're_ his princess." She smiles. I look up at her, "do you think I'll marry a prince someday?"

She smiles down at me and lifts my chin so I'm looking right into her eyes. "I think your brothers will make sure of that, Miss Heidi McFadden!"

I smile and start to yawn. "How about we get you to sleep," she says. She kisses my forehead and then she starts to sing a real pretty song. I love the sound of her voice. Her voice sounds sweet and I drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Heidi, wake up."

I groan. "Heidi, wake up." I open my eyes and see Guthrie standing by my bed and he's shaking me gently. He's shining his flashlight on my face. "Wake up," he whispers again.

"What," I groan.

"Shh. I have the glue," he whispers, holding up a bottle of crazy glue.

I sit up fast. The pranks! I get out of bed quietly and Guthrie and I tiptoe downstairs to the kitchen. We sneak by Brian and Ford who are sleeping in the living room. Brian is snoring loudly so we don't have to worry about waking them up.

We quickly sneak by them and tiptoe into the kitchen and make our way to the fridge.


	3. Chapter 3

Guthrie and I were both up early the next morning. We went down to the kitchen and waited for someone to come make breakfast. I can see Adam and Brian are already out checking on the cattle. That means Hannah would being cooking breakfast. She comes in still wearing her night-gown. "You two are up early," she says starting a pot of coffee. "Yep, we've got a busy day," Guthrie says. And we look at each other and smile.

"You two look like you're up to something," she says looking at us with a little glare.

"What could we possibly be up to?" Guthrie says sweetly. We smile up at her.

"I don't know but whatever it is it better not involve me."

Brian and Adam come in through the back door. Adam goes to Hannah and gives her a kiss while she hands him a cup of coffee. Brian walks to the refrigerator and opens it up. "Bacon and eggs, everyone?" We all say yes. He takes the bacon out and gives it to Hannah. Then he takes the egg carton out. "Heidi, why don't you help me with the eggs," he says.

"No, I think you should take them out," I say, smiling sweetly.

He looks at me slyly. "Why?" He asks.

"No reason," I say and Guthrie and I laugh.

He opens the egg carton and tries to take an egg out, but he can't. "Hmm," he says, "it looks like they're stuck." He tries to take another one out and he can't get that one out either. He tries harder and it breaks all over his fingers.

Guthrie and I laugh. Adam and Hannah laugh too. He tries to take another egg out but they're all like that. Hannah asks us, "you glued all the eggs to the carton?"

"Yes!" I shout, laughing. "We used super glue!"

"Where'd you get that from?" Adam asks.

"Ford was using it on his shoe," Guthrie says.

"Remind me to tell Ford to put the super glue away somewhere where these two can't find it," Adam says pulling our baseball caps down so they cover our eyes. We laugh.

Brian is still trying to get the eggs out seeing if he can save some. He can't. "We'll, looks like oatmeal today, thanks to you two," he glares at us, but there's a twinkle in his eyes. Yuck. I don't like oatmeal.

Just then Daniel yells from upstairs, "who glued the cap on the shampoo?"

"And the toothpaste!" Evan yells down. We laugh.

Adam looks at us. "Super glue?"

"Yep!" We laugh.

Daniel comes downstairs and he's mad. "Who did it? You two huh?" He yells.

"What are you complaining about," Brian says, "you're just gonna go out and see the cows." He smiles.

"No I'm not! I've got an audition today and then I'm going to see Allison!" He yells.

"Hold on now, calm down Daniel, "Adam says. "Hannah do we have another bottle?"

"Nope. That's it. It's on the list," she says smiling.

"We'll that's just great! Thanks a lot you two!" And he goes upstairs. Guthrie and I look at each other and then we look at Adam.

"We didn't mean to make him mad," I say.

"Don't you worry about Daniel, he'll get over it," Adam says.

Hannah calls upstairs, "breakfast. Come and get it!"

Crane, Evan, Ford and Daniel come downstairs and we all sit at the table. "Why are we having oatmeal today?" Ford asks.

"You can thank those two for that," Brian motions in our direction. "They super-glued the eggs to the carton."

Crane laughs. "And the toothpaste," Evan says. "And the shampoo!" Daniel yells.

Crane laughs harder. So I laugh too and so does Guthrie.

"Yeah, well just remember, what comes around goes around," Daniel says glaring at us. "Yeah!" Evan adds.

"Alright, alright," Adam says. "Let's eat. We've got a lot of work to do today. Especially with Daniel going into town. That means you two have to help too," he says pointing at us. "No adventuring today."

* * *

After breakfast Daniel leaves to go to his audition. He takes Hannah with him so she can go shopping. Guthrie and I have to help Brian in the barn. We have to muck out the stalls. I hate doing that. The shovel is heavy and the horse poop stinks. It's hard work. But when you live on a ranch there's lots of work that has to get done.

Brian goes over to the chicken coop to fix the gate. I pick up a shovel and start scooping horse poop into the wheel barrel. Guthrie does the same. When the wheel barrel gets full Brian carries it outside away from the barn to a big pile. It really stinks over there. After a while I stop working. "My hands hurt Brian, can I take a break? Pleeeeeeeese?" I ask smiling.

"Me too!" Guthrie adds. Brian looks at us, "I guess so. But make it quick."

We go into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Crane is sitting at the table looking at 'the books'. I don't know what 'the books' are, that's just what everyone calls them. They have a lot of numbers in them and it has to do with money.

"This is perfect," Guthrie whispers to me. I smile at him because I know exactly what he means. We get two glasses and fill them with water and bring them to the table.

"I don't think you can do it," Guthrie says to me.

"I bet I could," I say. I put my palm down flat on the table and Guthrie tries to balance the glass of water on the back of my hand. It works and Crane says, "pretty good."

"My friend Johnny says he can balance a glass on each hand at the same time," Guthrie says.

"Try it Guthrie," I say. Guthrie puts his hands down and I balance the water glasses on his hands. "I did it!" Guthrie shouts. I take the glasses off. "Good job," Crane says.

"Let's see if you can do it Crane," Guthrie says.

"Ok." He puts his palms flat on the table and Guthrie balances a glass of water on each hand.

"You did it!" I shout. Then Guthrie and I smile at him and start backing up to the back door. "Have fun trying to take them off without spilling them!" We laugh and run out the door.

We can hear Crane yelling, "wait! Get back here! Help me! The books are going to get wet!" We laugh and run to the barn.

"What're you two so happy about?" Brian asks us when we get there. "Nothing," we say. "Then get back to work," he says and hands me a shovel. We get back to work.

"Uh oh," Guthrie says, "here comes Crane." I look over at the house and Crane is running over to the barn.

"You guys made a huge mess in the kitchen!" Crane yells over to us.

We stop working and look over at him. Brian comes over. "What's going on?" He asks Crane.

"These two and their stupid pranks!" Crane yells.

"You were laughing pretty hard this morning at their 'stupid pranks'." Brian reminds him.

"They got water all over the books!" Brian looks at us. Crane tells him about the prank we pulled.

"Sorry Crane," Guthrie says. "Yeah, sorry," I say. "Do you want us to clean it up?" I ask smiling up at him.

"Oh no you don't!" Brian says. "You've got lots to clean up here first." Darn!

"You know pranks are ok to do sometimes," Crane tells us. "But, you guys are doing a lot and it's getting annoying. I cleaned up the mess but the books are going to take a while to dry out. And those books are very important. Just think a little bit before you pull your next prank. Ok?"

"Ok," we both say. Crane walks back to the house.

"Where are you guys getting these new pranks from?" Brian asks us.

"Just from some kid at school," Guthrie says.

"Well, it seems you guys have a lot of free time on your hands," Brian says. "So pick up a shovel and get back to work. You're gonna finish cleaning the barn out all by yourselves and don't even think about asking for a break."

"No fair," I mumble.

* * *

It takes us a long time to finish cleaning the barn. When we get in the house I'm so tired I flop down on the couch. Hannah comes and sits next to me. "I bought material today so I can make you that cowgirl dress." I smile up at her. "Will you make it look just like one of your cowgirl dresses?" I ask. "Yes."  
"Is the material pretty like your dresses?" I ask  
"Yes, but not 'too' pretty," she says while tickling me. I laugh. Then she says, "You smell like a barn! Go get washed up before dinner."

* * *

Dinner was over quickly. Guthrie and I were so tired we just sat there and ate and didn't say much. I listened to my brothers talk. Daniel got the gig he auditioned for. Evan teased him about his date with Allison. Brian said he's going into town tonight and Crane and Daniel ask if they could go with him. Hannah asked Ford if he was going to ask Cleo to the dance coming up. Then everyone teased him. It was just a normal dinner time in our house.

After dinner Hannah tells me to go take a bath while Guthrie and Ford help her do the dishes. I hate taking baths so I take a fast one and get ready for bed. I put my nightgown on and start to brush my hair when there's a knock at my door. I open it and Guthrie is standing there. "Hannah's making something in the kitchen," he whispers. I smile and say, "let's go." I throw my brush on my bed and we run downstairs and then we slow down and walk calmly into the kitchen.

"What are you making?" I ask.

"Cookies," she says slapping Guthrie's hand away from the bowl. He laughs. "What for?"

"These are for tomorrow. Would you like to help?" We both say yes.

"Here, you pour this in," she hands me the milk, "and you stir," she says, giving Guthrie the spoon. "I'm going to put a load of clothes in the washing machine. Don't eat any of the batter while I'm gone!"

Guthrie and I smile at each other. I quickly go to the cupboard where Brian keeps the hot sauce. He has a big bottle because he says it's the best spice that goes with everything. Hannah doesn't use it when she cooks. I pour half the bottle into the bowl. "That's way to much Heidi," Guthrie says.  
"Brian always says the more you put in the better."  
"Ok," Guthrie says and stirs it in. When Hannah comes back she takes the spoon and starts to make balls of dough with her fingers to put on the cookie sheet.

"We'll do that!" Guthrie says and grabs the spoon out of her hand. "Ok," she says watching us make balls of dough and put them on the cookie sheet. She puts the cookie sheet in the oven and we make more balls. We finish making all the balls of dough and Hannah puts the last cookie sheet in the oven. "You two can lick the bowl and spoon," she says.

We look at each other, "no thanks," I say, "we're too full from dinner." She gives us a funny look.

"We'll wash the bowl Hannah," Guthrie says, taking it over to the sink.

"You two are full of surprises tonight." We wash the bowl and she takes the cookies out of the oven. "Now don't you two eat any of these cookies," she tells us as she puts them in a container. "Don't worry, we won't," we say. She hides the container way up high in a cupboard so my brothers won't find them. "Alright, off to bed you two. You've got school in the morning!"

* * *

Morning comes quickly. School mornings are crazy in my house. Brian and Hannah get breakfast and lunches ready. No one really has time to sit and eat so we grab stuff to go. We're always rushing so we can make it to the buses on time. Adam and Brian don't like it when we miss the bus because then the have to drive us to school. Guthrie and I go to school in Murphys so it's not 'too' far for them to drive us, but Ford, Evan and Daniel go to Bret Harte High School in Angels Camp and that's a lot farther to drive. So mornings are crazy. Hannah hands me my lunch and gives me a kiss while I'm running out the door. "Have a good day!" She calls out to all of us as we make our way down the driveway. "Bye Hannah!" I yell.

* * *

When we get home from school we run into the kitchen to get a snack. "How was your day?" Hannah asks. "Good," Guthrie says. "Boring," I say. Brian comes into the kitchen, "hey twerps," he says to us, "Hannah where's Adam? I need help fixing the carburetor on the truck."

"The school called. Evan got in trouble and Adam had to go get him," she says.

"Again?" Brian asks, but he's not really asking.

"What'd he do this time?" Guthrie asks excitedly. "Yeah! Did he punch someone?" I ask.

"Knock it off you two," Hannah says. Then she tells Brian, "the school didn't say what happened."

"Probably fighting again," Brian says. Then he says, "got anything to eat Hannah? I'm starving."

"Yeah Hannah we're starving," Crane, Ford and Daniel say coming into the kitchen.

"Well hello to you too," she says smiling at them.

"Hi," they say, "got anything to eat?" They smile at her.

"Can we have the cookies you made last night?" I ask. "Pleeeeeeese?"

"Oh no, those weren't for us," Hannah says. "I made those for the high school. Mrs. Wilson asked if I would make some cookies for the bake sale they were having at lunch today. I sent them with Evan."

Guthrie and I froze. We looked at each other with huge eyes. "Um, never mind Hannah were not hungry anymore," Guthrie says. "Yeah," I say as we run out the back door. We run to the big oak tree in the front yard.

"What are we going to do Guthrie?" I ask. I'm almost crying. "Adam's going to be so mad at us."

"Forget about Adam," Guthrie says, "Evan's gonna kill us!"


	4. Chapter 4

"We could ride the horses up to the high country," I say.

"No we can't. We're not allowed to go that far by ourselves," Guthrie says.

Guthrie and I are sitting on the fence out by the barn. "We have to think of some place to hide before they get home."

"We could run away," I say.

"No, they always find us when we do that," Guthrie says.

We can hear the jeep in the distance. "They're coming!" Guthrie yells and we jump off the fence. "Quick! Into the barn!" He yells. We run as fast as we can. "The loft!" He says pointing up to it. We climb up the ladder. There are some bales of hay up there and we push them together and put one on top that we can hide behind. It's heavy but we finally get it up. Then we huddle behind it hiding in the corner.

The jeep is at the house now. I hear Evan yell, "Heidi! Guthrie! Where are you two!" Then we hear Adam yell, " Evan! Wait!" And we hear the door to the house slam shut.

Guthrie and I look at each other. I start to cry. "Shh, Heidi be quiet," Guthrie says putting his arm around me. "We're gonna be in so much trouble," I whisper in between sobs. "I know," Guthrie says and he looks like he wants to cry.

We hear the front door of the house open and Evan is yelling our names. Then we hear Brian say, "the horses are here so they can't be too far." Then we hear Adam say, "Ford, you go look by the creek. Brian and I will go out to the old oak tree. Daniel you look in the barn. Crane you keep Evan in the house with you and Hannah."

My heart starts to beat fast. I can hear Daniel walking into the barn. "If you two are in here you better come out!" He yells. Guthrie and I huddle together behind the bale of hay. I hear Daniel climbing the ladder. Soon he's up here and looking over the bale of hay right at us.

"I found them!" He yells. "Hey Evan! They're up in the loft!" We look at him. "You two are in so much trouble!" I don't like it when my brothers yell at me. I start crying hard and so does Guthrie. We don't move. "Get down!" Daniel yells. We shake our heads. Evan runs into the barn with Crane yelling after him to stop.

"Come down! You got me in so much trouble at school!" Evan yells at us and starts to climb the ladder.

Brian and Adam run into the barn. "Evan get down!" Brian yells as he runs over to the ladder and pulls Evan down.

"Daniel you get down here too. Look at what you're doing! You're scaring them! Geeez, they're only ten and twelve!" Adam yells. I am crying really hard. So is Guthrie. Daniel climbs down the ladder. Hannah and Ford run into the barn. They look up at us and I just want to jump down into Hannah's arms. Evan is yelling, "Adam you know they've been pulling all kinds of pranks lately. And this one went too far!" Hannah climbs up to us.

"Calm down!" Adam yells.

"Oh and I suppose you're going to take their side on this, huh?" Evan yells.

"I'm not taking anybody's side!" Adam yells back.

"Yeah right!" Evan yells and he storms out of the barn. "Evan!" Brian yells going after him.

"Everybody just calm down," Adam says quieter.

Hannah kneels down and takes both of us in her arms. We're crying really hard on her shoulders. "Shh," she says, kissing the tops of our heads, "you didn't know this was going to happen."

"What're you gonna do Adam?" Daniel asks. We look down at them and Daniel is glaring up at us with his arms folded across his chest.

"I don't know yet," he says.

"Well make sure you do _something_," he says angrily.

"Daniel why don't you just go on over to the house," Adam tells him.

"Ok, _Dad_!" He yells and kicks the barn door on his way out.

"Dammit Daniel!" Adam is yelling again. He doesn't like to be called dad.

"_Adam_," Hannah calls down to him, and he calms down a little bit.

"I'll go talk to him," Crane says going after him. "Ford come with me," he calls out.

Adam is pacing below the loft. He doesn't like it when we all fight.

"Shh," Hannah says,trying to calm us down. "Look at me." We stand back and look at her. "It's going to be ok."

"Evan is really mad at us," I cry.

"I know. He's mad right now, but he knows you didn't mean to get him in trouble. He just needs time to calm down," Hannah says. "You'll see. He's your brother and he loves you." Hannah looks at me and smiles while she wipes away my tears. "I'm sorry," I cry. "I know you are," she says pulling me near her.

"Daniel's mad at us too," Guthrie says. Hannah reaches over with her other arm and pulls him to her.  
"They're your brothers. They won't stay mad for long," she says, hugging us tightly.

"Did Evan get in trouble?" Guthrie asks.

"Don't worry about that. Adam straightened it all out." Hannah says. I'm feeling calmer now and I stop crying. Guthrie does too. "Why don't we go to the house and get you guys a snack. You must be hungry," she says, and she gives us a squeeze.

I climb down the ladder. Adam is still down here. He's been quiet this whole time. "I'm sorry Adam," I say. "I know," he says looking down at me. "But you need to tell that to Evan."

After Hannah climbs down the ladder she walks over to Adam and gives him a hug. Then they look at each other and I can hear him whisper, "you're a good mom." And she whispers back, "you're a good dad." I look up at them. What do they mean by that? Is this what it's like to have a mom and dad? I never thought about that before. Adams's just my brother. Isn't he? I decide I'll have to ask Guthrie about that later.

The four of us walk over to the house. Guthrie and I decide to walk behind Adam and Hannah in case Evan comes running over to us. But he doesn't. I can see him sitting on the porch step. Daniel, Brian, Crane and Ford are sitting with him. They all seem calm but I hide behind Adam when we get to the porch.

"I'm sorry Evan," Guthrie says. Adam nudges me around so I'm standing in front of him. He puts his hands gently on top of my shoulders and then nudges me forward a little bit more. "I'm sorry too," I say with tears in my eyes. I don't want Evan to be mad at me. He looks at me, and then at Guthrie, and says, "ok. I guess you didn't mean for that to happen."

"Did you get in trouble?" Guthrie asks.

"I did at first. The principal wouldn't believe me when I said I didn't do it. He was going to suspend me. But then Adam came and straightened it all out." Evan is smiling now. "I guess it's kind of funny if you think about it. Hannah, I don't think Mrs. Wilson's going to ask you to bake anymore cookies anytime soon." My brothers all laugh.

Hannah says, "don't worry, I'll call her and apologize."

"At least only a few kids ate the cookies before Mrs. Wilson figured out what was going on," Evan says. What'd you guys put in them anyway?"

"Hot sauce!" I yell, smiling up at Brian. Everyone laughs and Evan asks, "how much?"

"She poured half the bottle in!" Guthrie says laughing.

Brian smiles at me and says, "that would have been a good prank on us if it had worked." Guthrie and I smile at each other.

"Brian! Don't encourage them." Adam says. Everybody laughs and I feel happy. I like it when we all get along and everyone's laughing smiling.

"Let's go in and have a snack," Hannah says. "You guys still have your chores to do before dinner." Everyone groans and gets up. Evan puts his arm around Guthrie and they walk into the house together. Daniel picks me up and swings me around so he can carry me into the house.

Hannah gets some cookies out and it doesn't take long before they're all gone. Everyone heads out to do their chores but Hannah calls me back. "Let's get you measured for your cowgirl dress." I follow her upstairs where her sewing kit is. She pulls out her tape measure and starts measuring. "Hannah did your mom make you a cowgirl dress?" I ask.

"Yes. She made me lots of clothes, like princess dresses, dresses, and shirts. She was good at sewing and she taught me how to sew."

"So a mom is someone who sews and makes you clothes?" I ask.

She laughs. "Not all moms sew. Why are you asking?"

"No reason," I say shrugging my shoulders. She finishes measuring and I hop down the stairs and out the door. I head on out to the barn to feed the chickens.

I can see Evan brushing his horse, Diablo. Daniel is filling up the horses water trough and Guthrie's getting some hay for them. I walk over to the chicken coop and Evan says, "hey Heidi, bring me the other brush from the barn will ya?" I head over to go inside the barn and both doors are closed. That's weird they should be open. I open one of the doors and all this water comes pouring down on me! It's so cold! I hear Evan and Daniel laughing behind me. I turn around and yell at them, "why'd you do that!"

"Hey, don't look at us," Evan says. "Why don't you ask your pranking buddy over there." And they point at Guthrie who's coming around the side of the barn with hay in his hands. He looks at me and starts cracking up. "What'd you do Heidi? Swim in the horses trough?" He thought that was pretty funny. Evan and Daniel did too 'cause the laughed hard.

I glared at him and I could feel the anger boiling up inside me. I stomp over to Guthrie glaring at him. He looks at me and stops laughing and drops his hay. He turns to run and I run as fast as I can to catch him. I push him to the ground. He gets up and turns around. Guthrie is saying something to me but I can't hear him because in my head I'm so mad and I'm not listening. I stomp right up to him and put my hand in a fist and swing for his face. He puts his hands up but he's not quick enough. My punch lands right on his eye. He pushes me to the ground and I get up and try to push him back but Daniel's behind me now holding me back.

"Let go!" I yell, trying to squirm away. "Not until you calm down!" He says. Evan is looking at Guthrie's face now. It looks red. Guthrie looks at me and he looks mad. "You punched me!" He yells at me. I glare at him as Daniel lets go. "I hate you!" I scream at him and I run. I run as fast as I can. I'm so mad and I don't understand. Why would Guthrie do that to me? I run to the creek crying all the way.


	5. Chapter 5

I run all the way to the creek. When I get there I find a big rock to sit on. I'm soaking wet. I'm cold now and tired from running. I feel sad and mad all at the same time. Why would Guthrie do this to me? I look around for some rocks that I can throw in the creek. I'm getting really cold now. Maybe I should go back home. No, then they'll all laugh at me because I'm wet. And I'll probably get in trouble for hitting Guthrie. Why did I hit him? Because I was mad. Maybe I should prank him back so he can see how it feels. I start to cry again. I feel sad that Guthrie hurt me. We always pull pranks together. We do almost everything together. We come 'here' together. Everything feels like a mess now. I wish we never checked that book out of the library. Actually, I guess we didn't check the book out, we took it. Is that like stealing? How are we going to give it back? I wish Guthrie was here so I could talk to him. No I don't! He got me wet. I'm gonna get him back. I don't know how yet, but I will.

I get up and walk along the creek looking for a big stick or something else to play with. The sun is getting lower and I'm getting colder. I'm shivering now. I find a stick and go sit on a rock and poke it in the mud. I hear a horse coming up and I look up to see Ford riding up.

"What're you doing out here?" He asks.

"Nothing," I say, poking the ground with my stick. "What are you doing out here?" I ask him.

"I'm looking for a lost calf. Why are you all wet?"

"Go away you're bugging me," I tell him.

"Why? What's wrong Heidi?"

"I'm mad so just go away!" I yell.

Ford gets off his horse and walks over to me. "Come on Heidi, you can talk to me."

He's right. I like talking to Ford. He's always nice and listens. But I'm still really mad and sad about Guthrie and I don't know how to talk about that. "Nope. I'm not gonna talk to you."

"Well, then I'll just sit with you." He sits down next to me. "You're freezing! Come on let's go home so you can put dry clothes on. Besides, it's going to be dinner soon."

"I'm not hungry!" I yell and turn my back to him. "Just leave me alone! Or I'll...or I'll hit you with my stick!" I yell at him.

Ford laughs. "No you won't."

He's right, I won't. I don't know why I said that. I start to cry. Ford puts his arms around me. He feels so warm. I don't know what to do. If I go home Guthrie will be there and I don't want to see him. "Ford, I don't ever want to go back."

"Heidi, whatever it is it can't be that bad. Please come home with me." I shake my head no. "It's going to be getting dark soon. If we're not back soon someone's going to have to come looking for us. And you know how Adam hates that."

I get up and push Ford away. "I'm not going home and you can't make me!" I yell. I start running away from Ford.

"Heidi! Come back! I won't take you home! We can just sit here!" I run and I hear Ford running behind me. "Stop!" He yells. Ford grabs my arm and pulls me so I can't run anymore. I try to get away but he's stronger so I start kicking him. He lets go. "Heidi what are you doing!" I run. "I'm not going to chase you anymore. I'll just sit here and wait 'till someone comes." I look back and see he's sitting on a rock. Why did I kick him. Why do I feel like this. I don't understand. I walk around and find a spot to sit where Ford can't see me.

* * *

I'm cold, tired and sad. I sit and cry. It's getting dark now and I know someone's gonna come find us. I don't even care who it is now I'm so cold. I can hear Ford talking to someone and then I hear footsteps walking towards me. I turn around and it's Adam. I get up and run to him. He picks me up and holds me. He's so warm. "I heard what happened," he says, and then he doesn't say anything else, he just holds me. He carries me over to where his horse is. Ford has already left and gone home to tell the others Adam found me. Adam has a jacket for me so he puts me down and puts it on me. I'm shivering really bad now. He puts me on his horse and gets up and sits in back of me. He puts his arm around my waist and rides off towards the house.

We ride over to the barn and he puts his horse in the stall. It's dark now. He gets off his horse and reaches up and takes me off. He carries me to the house and we walk through the front door. I hug Adam tightly and bury my face against his neck so I don't have to look at anyone. It's warm inside and Adam carries me upstairs. I can hear everyone in the kitchen having dinner. Adam carries me to the bathroom. He puts me down and goes over to the tub and turns the bath water on. Then he comes over to me and lifts my chin up with his fingers so I'm looking at him. He says softly, "take a bath, get dry clothes on, and come down and eat some dinner." Then he kisses the top of my head and leaves closing the door behind him.

I get undressed, turn the water off and climb in the tub. The water feels hot at first because I'm still cold. But then it feels good and I lay back in it and relax. I'm so tired and I feel so sad. I don't want to think about anything. Not Guthrie, not pranks, not anything. I lay in the tub until the water starts to get cold. I quickly wash and get out. I dry off and wrap the towel around me. I open the door a crack and I can hear everyone downstairs in the kitchen. I sneak out of the bathroom and go into my room. I turn my little pink lamp on and close the door and put my nightgown on. I don't feel like going downstairs so I get into bed. The covers feel nice and warm.

There's a soft knock at my door and then someone opens it. I look up and see Adam and Hannah. I turn away from them and face the wall. Adam sits on the edge of the bed.

"Are you hungry?" I shake my head.

"Do you want to talk?" Hannah asks me. I shake my head no really fast.

"Heidi, there's something you need to know," Adam says.

"What?" I ask, turning and looking up at him.

"Guthrie didn't prank you."

"Then who did?" I ask.

"Evan and Daniel. And part of the prank was for you to think Guthrie did it and get mad at him." I turn and face the wall again. Adam puts his hand on my back and rubs it softly. "In fact, they wanted Guthrie to be the one who opened the barn door and get the water poured on him. And for him to get mad at you. But you opened the door first." My eyes are watering now. The tears roll down my cheeks. Adam must see them because he starts wiping them away, but they don't stop falling. I feel so sad. I feel like I lost my best friend. I sit up and reach for Adam. He holds me and rocks me back and forth. He starts singing softly. It's a song my brothers sing to me when I'm sad. I just listen to his voice until I fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

"Heidi wake up."

I open my eyes and Hannah is sitting on my bed. "It's time to get up for school," she says. She's smiling at me. "How are you feeling?"

Everything comes flooding back to me. The prank Evan and Daniel pulled on me. Me getting mad at Guthrie and punching him. I don't feel like getting up and I don't want to see anybody right now. I roll over and face the wall. "I don't feel good Hannah. Can I stay home?"

"Sure. I'll let Adam know. I'll save you some pancakes and bacon." Hannah gives me a kiss on my forehead and gets up.

"Hannah?"

"Yes?"

"Can you shut my door please?"

"Sure," she says, "go back to sleep." And I hear her leave and my door close.

* * *

When I wake up it's light outside, but I can tell it's not early in the morning because the sun isn't shining on me through my window. It's higher up in the sky. I look at my clock and it's 9:30. I get up out of bed and open my door to look downstairs. It's quite in the house. Am I the only one home? No. I'm ten, they would never leave me alone.

I sit on my bed and think about yesterday. Why would I think Guthrie pranked me. I wish I didn't hit him. Now he's mad at me. Why did Evan and Daniel have to prank me. Maybe I should prank them. I'll have to think of a good prank, but right now I'm hungry. I shut my door and get dressed.

* * *

I walk downstairs and look around. No one's in the living room or kitchen. I open the front door. The jeep is gone and some of the horses. That means someone's probably in town and someone's out with the cattle or fixing a fence or something else, and the others are at school. I close the door and go into the kitchen. I find the pancakes and bacon Hannah saved for me and I see the syrup sitting out on the table. The syrup gives me an idea. I eat quickly.

I take the syrup and run outside to the barn. I walk over to where we keep the saddles and pour syrup all over Evan's saddle. There. That should take card of Evan. Now I just have to think of a prank for Daniel. I hide the empty syrup bottle behind a bale of hay and I walk over to my horse, Lucy.

I love Lucy and I like to talk to her when I'm sad. Lucy sees me coming and she walks over to me. I pet her and hug her neck. "Lucy, I hurt Guthrie. I don't think he likes me anymore. And I hate Daniel and Evan! They're mean!" I hold Lucy's face so I can look into her eyes. "Let's go for a ride." I get her saddle out and put it on her. I get on her and ride her out to the old oak tree. I tie her up to the tree and start climbing. I miss Guthrie. He should be here with me. I climb as high as I can go and sit up there and think.

* * *

After a while I start to feel hungry so I decide to go home and get something to eat. I ride Lucy back to the barn and I can see one of the horses is back, so I know someone's home.

I go in the house and walk into the kitchen. Brian's in there. He's at the table eating. "Where've you been?" He asks. "I've been looking for you."

"I was out at the old oak tree," I say, getting out the peanut butter and jelly.

"Who'd you tell?" He asks.

I look at him. I'm supposed to tell someone where I'm going and I didn't do that. I need to think carefully of who's name I should say since I don't know who he's been working out on the ranch with.

"Hannah," I decide.

"Nope," Brian says, "she left early this morning to go over to Angles Camp." He leans back in his chair and stares at me.

I try to act like I'm not lying, so I go get a knife and plate. "I guess it was Crane," I say, while I get the bread out and put it on the table with the rest of the stuff.

"Nope. He went with Hannah. Try again."

I make my sandwich quickly because I know the only other answer is Adam, and I'm sure they've been working together all morning. "Adam?" I say while looking down at my sandwich.

"Nope. And you didn't tell me so that means you didn't tell anyone. You know you're not supposed to go anywhere without telling anybody."

I pick up my sandwich and walk out of the kitchen saying, "there wasn't anyone here to tell."

"Hey, I'm not done talking to you. Come back in here." Brian calls from the kitchen.

"Well, I'm done talking to you," I mumble to myself.

"What?" He says while pointing at a chair.

"Nothing," I say, sitting down in the chair.

"You know you hit Guthrie pretty hard yesterday."

"I know," I say looking down at my sandwich.

"You can't just go around hitting people. Especially your brother."

"Why not? You do it," I say looking up at him.

"That's different."

"Why? Is it because I'm a girl?" I glare at him.

"Yes...I mean no. You're just not supposed to. Heidi, you're a lot like me."

"I know. Adam says that to me all the time. He says that's not a good thing." I look down.

Brian laughs. "You're like a firecracker, Heidi. When you get mad you let everyone know it. Just like me. We're not good at keeping our anger from exploding. And sometimes that means we hurt people."

"I don't mean to."

"I know, me either."

"So what do we do about it?"

"Well, we just try our best not to explode and then we apologize later if we do."

"Brian, do you think Guthrie will forgive me? He's probably really mad at me."

"Are you kidding? You two are like two peas in a pod! He might be a little mad but I know he'll forgive you." He gets up and walks over to me and kisses the top of my head. "I've gotta get back to work. Look at me." I look up. "Don't go anywhere! Not to the creek, not to the old oak tree, and don't ride Lucy anywhere. You got that?" He says, smiling down at me.

"Ok. I won't," I say smiling at him. He goes outside and I sit here by myself and I feel so alone. I wish Guthrie was here. I can't wait for him to come home from school. I hope he won't be mad at me.

I finish eating my sandwich and then I get up and go out the back door. I walk over to the oak tree in the front yard and climb up it. I'll wait for him here.

* * *

I see Guthrie walking on the driveway. I climb down and wait at the bottom of the tree. He sees me and keeps walking to the house. I look at his eye and it looks red. It doesn't look bad like when Brian hits someone in town, but it's red. And it looks like it hurts.

"Guthrie," I say. He keeps walking right by me like he can't hear me and walks to the porch. "Guthrie," I say louder. He stops and turns around.

"What! What do you want!" He yells.

"I'm sorry," I say softly.

"I don't care! Do you know how much I got teased today? A lot! I told everyone I ran into a fence post so they wouldn't know I got hit by a girl! I asked Adam if I could stay home today but he said no! But he let you stay home! I hate you Heidi!" And then he runs into the house and I cry. I see Brian over at the barn so I run over to him.

"You were wrong!" I scream at Brian crying.

"Hey, calm down. What are you talking about?"

"Guthrie! You said he would forgive me, but he didn't! He hates me!" I yell.

Brian kneels down and hugs me. "Hey. Stop." I stop yelling and just cry while he hugs me. "Give him some time," he says softly. Then he says, "hi Guthrie!"

I look over and Guthrie is coming out to the barn to do his chores. I dry my eyes and Brian gives me a nudge. "Go talk to him," he whispers.

I walk over to him. He's getting some hay for the horses. "Guthrie?" I say. He doesn't answer me. I look at Brian and he smiles and nods to me. "Guthrie I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Well you did," he says looking at me.

I look at his eye and I feel bad. "Guthrie I thought you pulled the prank on me. I'm so sorry I thought that."

"I tried to tell you that I didn't do it but it was like you couldn't hear me. You had that mad look you get in your eyes when you're angry. You know, that look that Brian gets when he's angry." We look over at Brian and he puts his head down quickly and pretends he's working and not listening. We laugh a little.

"I'm really sorry. Will you forgive me?" I ask. He looks at me and smiles a little bit.

"I guess so," he says. Then he looks down at the ground.

"Guthrie, I missed you so much!" I say.

I missed you too," he says looking up. I walk over and hug him and he hugs me back.

Brian comes over and says, "see? I told you. You two are like two peas in a pod." We stop hugging and smile at Brian.

"Thanks Brian," I say.

Just then the jeep pulls up. Hannah and Crane are back from Angels Camp and Evan, Daniel, and Ford are with them. They must've picked them up from school. Brian walks over to the jeep.

"Heidi, promise me you'll never hit me again, ok?" Guthrie asks.

"Promise!" I say. Guthrie picks up the hay for the horses and I remember what I did to Evan's saddle. "Guthrie guess what I did to Evan's saddle."

"What?" He asks.

"I put syrup all over it!" I say smiling. "I still have to think of a good prank for Daniel."

Guthrie drops the hay and looks at me with big eyes. "Oh no! Heidi, we're not supposed to pull any more pranks! Last night Adam said the next person who pulls a prank is gonna get grounded for a whole month!"

* * *

"How am I gonna get it off Guthrie?" I say looking at Evan's saddle.

"I don't know, it looks pretty bad. He's gonna be mad at you."

"I know. But I'm just getting him back." I say, but I know that's not going to matter.

"Look, he's coming." I look over and sure enough here he comes. I run over to the ladder and climb up to the loft.

"Hey Guthrie," Evan says, walking over to his saddle. He picks it up and looks at it. It doesn't take him long to realize something's different about his saddle. Guthrie just stands there staring at him.

"What's on this?" He says putting his fingers on the syrup. "It feels like syrup." He smells it. "It is syrup!" He yells. "Guthrie did you do this?" Guthrie doesn't say anything. "Guthrie I'm talking to you! Who did this?" Guthrie just looks at him.

"I did," I say from the loft. "I'm sorry."

Evan looks up at me and yells. "What'd you do that for?"

"To get you back. Are you gonna tell on me? Please don't. Pleeeeeease." Please don't. Please don't, I wish in my head.

Even doesn't say anything for a long time. Then he looks up at me and says, "nope."

I sigh. "Thank you," I say.

"Oh, don't thank me," he says, "'cause I'm gonna get you back." And he walks out of the barn with his saddle and carries it over to the water spigot outside.


	7. Chapter 7

I finish feeding the chickens and walk over to the house. I wonder how Evan's going to get me back. I sit on the bottom porch step and find a stick to play with. I scratch at the ground with it until I find a little rock stuck in the ground that I can try to dig up with the stick. I hope Evan's prank isn't that bad. I look over at the barn and see Evan cleaning his saddle. Guthrie's still at the barn finishing his chores and then I see Adam there putting his horse away. He walks over to me when he's done.

"Hi," he says, sitting down next to me.

"Hi," I say, poking the ground with the stick.

"We need to talk about what happened yesterday." I had a feeling he was going to say that.

"What about it?" I ask, still playing with the stick.

"Well, first of all you hit Guthrie."

I look up at him. "Oh, Brian already talked to me about that so you don't have to."

"Well, now it's my turn."

Darn. I go back to playing with my stick.

"You can't just go around hitting people. Especially your brother."

"Ok," I say. I finally dig the little rock out of the ground.

"Put the stick down and listen to me."

I drop the stick and say, "I am listening. You said don't hit. But I don't really know why you're telling me that because you guys hit people all the time." I pick up the stick and start scratching at the ground again.

Adam takes the stick and sets it over by him. "I know you see us get into fights. And maybe we're not setting the best example for you, but I'll tell you what I tell your brothers. Fighting's not the answer. How did you feel after you hit Guthrie?"

"Bad," I say.

"And I bet it didn't help did it help?"

"No. It made things worse." I look up at him. "How'd you know that?" I ask.

"Oh, let's just say I've had some experience with how it feels," he says giving me a squeeze. I laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" He asks smiling at me.

"Because I think that means you've fought a lot." I say, standing up and I try to flick his hat off.

"You're pretty smart for a _little_ girl." He says taking my hat off and holding it up high so I can't reach it.

"Hey!" I say jumping up and down trying to reach it. Guthrie comes running up.

"What are you guys doing?" He asks.

"Just talking about how _little_ your sister is," Adam says putting my hat back on my head. I hug him. "Now on a serious note," he says looking at me, "no more pranking."

"Ok," I say. I look at Guthrie and neither one of us is smiling.

"No, don't look at Guthrie, look at me." I look at him. "I'm serious now. No more pranks or you're grounded for a whole month."

"Ok." My stomach starts to hurt and I feel bad inside. I don't know if I should tell him about the prank I already pulled on Evan today. I feel like I'm lying, but Evan said he wouldn't tell, so I decide not to tell Adam.

"Now let's go inside and see what Hannah's cooked up for dinner." I follow him and Guthrie inside and I don't know what feels worse, thinking about how Evan's going to get me back, or that I didn't tell Adam I already pulled a prank.

* * *

Dinner time is just as crazy as always. Lots of talking. I don't feel like talking and I don't feel like eating. "How come you're not eating?" Hannah asks me. "Are you not feeling well?"

I look at Evan and he's smiling at me. "Yeah Heidi, don't you feel good?"

"No, I'm fine," I say as I pick up my fork and slowly put some peas in my mouth. I see Hannah shrug her shoulders as she looks down at Adam. I sit quietly and listen to everyone else talk about their day.

When dinner is over Hannah says, "will some of you boys clean up the kitchen tonight? I've got something I want to show Heidi."

"Sure honey," Adam says, "we'll take care of it. Won't we boys?" He's smiling and everyone groans.

* * *

I follow Hannah upstairs to her room. She walks over to her sewing machine and picks up something and carries it over to me. She unfolds it and holds it up. It's a cowgirl dress! And it's pretty, just like Hannah's dresses. I jump up and hug her almost knocking her down. "I love it!" I say hugging her tightly.

She laughs. "Good. I was hoping you would."

"Can I try it on?" I ask.

"Yes, but it's not finished yet. I still have to fix the sleeves and sew up the hem. But let's get it on you so I can see how short the hem should be."

I take my hat off and undress. She puts the dress on over my head and helps me pull it down. I look in the mirror. It's beautiful. It's white with little tiny purple flowers all over the skirt part. "And look," Hannah says bringing something else over from her sewing machine, "I made you this jean jacket vest to go with it." I smile and try it on. It fits and I love it! "Now, stand up on this chair and hold still while I pin up the sleeves and hem." I get up on the chair and watch her put the pins in. When she's finished she helps me get down and I walk over to the mirror. I smile. It's been a long time since I've worn a dress.

When I was little people from town would stop by and bring old clothes by for me and my brothers. Sometimes they'd bring a dress or two but I'd just stuff them in a draw in my dresser and never wear them. But this dress is pretty! I twirl around in front of the mirror. Hannah comes over and takes my ponytail out so my hair falls down onto my shoulders. I look in the mirror and smile. "I look like a cowgirl."

"You look like a cowgirl princess," she says. I smile up at her and turn around and give her a hug. "Ow!" I say as the pins poke me. We laugh and she says, "lets get this off of you. I'll finish sewing it tomorrow while you're at school." I take the vest off and she helps lift the dress up and over my head. I get dressed and sit on the bed while I watch her put everything back. "Thank you Hannah. I've never had anything so pretty before." She comes and sits down next to me and hugs me tightly.

"Heidi, I'd love to make you lots of pretty things."

"Like you're mom made for you?" I ask looking up at her. She has tears in her eyes.

"Yes." She wipes her eyes.

"I think I'd like that." I say softly, and then I remind her, "just not _too_ pretty!" We laugh and she says, "we'd better get downstairs and make sure those brothers of yours cleaned up the kitchen!"

* * *

I feel so happy about the dress Hannah made for me that I forgot all about Evan. But then I see him sitting on the couch downstairs and I remember everything. I walk downstairs and sit next to Crane who's sitting on the other couch. I haven't seen him all day. "Hi," he says giving me a big hug. Evan is staring at me so I snuggle up next to Crane. Evan can't prank me right now so I feel a little safe.

Daniel has his guitar out and starts singing. When he gets to the chorus we all join in. Adam and Hannah start slow dancing. I stare at them. They're smiling at each other and they look like the picture of Cinderella and Prince Charming at the ball from the princess book. Then they kiss. Ew! My brothers whistle and they stop kissing and smile at us. Then Evan gets up off the couch and starts going upstairs.

"Goodnight everyone," he says, "I've got some homework to do before I go to bed." Guthrie and I look at each other. This can't be good. My brothers look at Evan and laugh. "Are you kidding? Since when do you do homework?" They call out to him as goes up to his room. I sit next to Crane and listen to him and Daniel sing. Hannah and Adam are still dancing and Brian is playing his harmonica. Guthrie and Ford are singing too. But not me. My stomach is hurting again as I sit and think about how Evan is going to get me back and I wonder what he is doing upstairs.

After a few more songs Adam says, "let's wrap it up. Some of you guys have school tomorrow." I get up to go upstairs and get ready for bed. Crane says, "I'll be up in a minute to tuck you in."

"Ok." And I slowly walk to the stairs and up to my room.

I get dressed in my nightgown and walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I check my toothbrush and the toothpaste very carefully to make sure nothing's wrong with them. I don't see anything so I brush my teeth and finish getting ready for bed.

I get in bed and wait for Crane. I can hear everyone else getting ready for bed. I guess Evan's not going to prank me tonight. Crane comes in and sits on my bed. He asks me about my day and I tell him about me and Guthrie making up and he says he's glad. He also says he's glad the pranks are over. My stomach starts to hurt again. Hannah comes in and gives me a kiss goodnight and Adam says goodnight from the doorway and they go to their room. Then Crane asks me if I want a story or a song or both. "A song," I say. He sings one of my favorite goodnight songs and then gives me a kiss and says goodnight. "Goodnight," I say, and he leaves closing the door halfway.

I'm not tired at all. I try to fall asleep but I can't. It's been a very long day. I turn on my side and close my eyes hoping that will help me fall asleep, but it doesn't. I lay there listening to how quiet it is. Everyone must be in bed now. I look out of my door from my bed and it's completely dark in the house. The only light is the soft light coming from my little pink lamp on my dresser. I lay quietly and think about what Evan might do tomorrow when I hear a little scratching noise. I listen carefully and I hear it again. I start to feel a little scared. Sometimes I get scared when I wake up at night and everyone else is asleep. When that happens I usually get up and go wake up Adam or Brian and they put me back in bed and stay with me until I fall asleep. But if I'm too scared to get up I cry until someone comes. I hear the tapping noise again and I'm scared. I listen closely and it sounds like it's coming from under my bed! Then I hear a heavy breathing sound and I start to cry. Something's under my bed! I cry louder and then I hear a growl! I scream as loud as I can and Adam and Hannah come running to my room.

"What's wrong?" Adam says rushing in and picking me up.

"There's something under my bed!" I cry.

"Shh. There's nothing there. We'll check." Adam carries me out to the hallway and I hug him tightly. Hannah goes into my room to look. Everyone's out in the hallway now and the lights are on. Hannah starts to look under the bed when Evan laughs and comes out from underneath it.

"There I got you back!" He says laughing at me. Adam puts me down and I can tell he's gonna yell at Evan.

"Evan, that wasn't very nice," Hannah says.

"You're acting like a ten-year old! I told you no more pranks!" Adam yells.

"Well, she started it! She put syrup all over my saddle!"

He looks at me and says, "when?" I don't answer. "When Heidi!"

"Earlier today," Evan says.

"You said you weren't gonna tell!" I yell. I feel like hitting him or kicking him and I lunge towards him but someone holds me back.

"Well it took me a really long time to get the syrup off!" Evan yells at me.

"Enough!" Adam yells. "Evan, I can't believe you did this!" Then he looks at me and says, "and you!" Hannah puts her hand on his arm. "I can't believe you didn't tell me earlier today!" He says a little quieter but he still looks really mad.

"Well, you'll never guess what I found under her bed!" Evan throws the prank book down on the ground. Hannah picks it up and looks at it. Guthrie and I look at each other.

"Where did you get this from?" Hannah asks me. I don't say anything.

"Where'd you get it from?" Adam yells. I still don't say anything.

"It says 'Carbon County Library' on it," Hannah reads. Everyone stares at me.

"We got it from the library," Guthrie says quietly.

"How?" Hannah asks. "I didn't check it out."

"We put it inside the book you checked out," Guthrie said.

Hannah looks at me and says, "so that's why you wanted the princess book." And she looks a little sad.


	8. Chapter 8

When I woke up I knew it was going to be bad day. Adam was really mad last night. He told everyone to go to bed. He said he would talk to me and Evan after school tomorrow, which is today. He also said Guthrie and I had to return the prank book to the library. I wish I never saw that prank book!

I take my time getting ready for school. I dread going downstairs. I don't want to see or talk to anyone. Except for Guthrie. I wait on my bed for Hannah to call me down. When she does I run downstairs and grab my lunch from her without looking up. "Have a good day," she says to me. "You too," I say as I run past her. I run and catch up with Guthrie at the end of the driveway. We walk together to the bus stop.

"I'm in so much trouble," I tell him.

"I know. You're gonna be grounded for a whole month!"

The bus comes and when we get on Guthrie makes his way to the back to sit with a friend. I sit by myself. I don't feel like talking to anyone today.

* * *

On the bus ride home I sit by myself again and look out the window. I wish the bus would get a flat tire or break down. Anything so I don't have to go home yet. But the bus gets to our stop and I have to get off. Guthrie and I walk home.

"I feel like running away," I tell him.

"Then you'd just be in more trouble," he says.

"I know."

When we get to the house Guthrie walks up the porch steps, but I stay on the grass. "Aren't you coming inside?" He asks.

"No. I'm just going to do my chores." I put my school things on the porch steps and walk over to the barn.

I start to feed the chickens when I see Adam riding over to the barn from the pasture. I run inside the barn and climb up the ladder to the loft. I'm not ready to talk to him yet. Or I guess I should say I'm not ready for him to talk to me.

I hide behind some hay and watch him put his saddle away. Then he leaves and walks over to the house. Whew! I look out the loft doors and I can see Evan, Ford and Daniel walking on the driveway. They're home from school. Hopefully Adam will talk to Evan first. I watch them go into the house. Hannah always has a snack ready for us when we get home from school. I'm hungry but not hungry enough to go inside.

I lean back against the hay and pull some out to play with. I hear someone come out of the house. I look out the loft door and see Guthrie running out to the barn. "Heidi where are you?" He yells.

"Sh! I'm up here," I say, sticking my head out the loft door.

Guthrie runs inside and up the ladder. "Hannah gave me some cookies to give to you." He hands them to me and says, "what are you doing up here?"

"I'm hiding. Is Adam still inside?"

"Yeah, he's talking to Evan right now."

"Is he yelling?" I ask.

"No. But he's doesn't sound happy."

"Well, at least he's not yelling," I mumble.

"I'm gonna do my chores," Guthrie says. He climbs down and goes out to feed the horses.

I hear someone else coming so I look out and see it's Adam. I get up and hide in the corner.

"Guthrie, have you seen Heidi?" I don't hear Guthrie say anything but then I hear Adam say, "never mind, I think I know where she is." And I hear him walk into the barn.

"I know you're up there," he calls up to me. I don't say anything.

"Come on down so I can talk to you."

"No. You're mad at me."

"You can't stay up there forever."

"Yes I can. I have cookies."

"Then I'll come up." And I hear him climbing up the ladder.

Adam climbs and sits on a bale of hay. He scoots another bale across from hit. "Sit." He says pointing to the hay.

"Are you gonna yell at me?" I ask.

"No," he says, so I get out of the corner slowly and sit on the hay.

"Are you mad at me?" I ask, looking at him.

"Why do you think I'm mad at you?" He asks.

"Because I put syrup on Evan's saddle?" I ask.

"No. I'm not mad at you Heidi."

I look up at him. "You're not? But you were yelling last night."

"I was frustrated last night. I've had enough of the pranks. I'm not mad at you, but I'm _disappointed_ in you."

"Does that mean you don't like me?" I say, looking down.

"Look up at me." He waits until I do. "I love you. But it made me sad inside that you didn't tell me you put syrup on Evan's saddle after we talked yesterday."

"I was sad too. My stomach hurt." My eyes start to water. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I feel sad."

"I can see that. But you know I'm still going to have to punish you." His voice sounds serious now.

I look down and cry. "Are you going to ground me for a whole month?"

"Well for starters, you and Guthrie are going to have to return that library book back to Ms. Pricket."

I look up at him, "but she hates us! Now she's going to hate us even more!"

"You stole that book from the library and you need to take it back." He says. And he still sounds serious.

"Okay."

"Second, you and Evan need to make up."

"But he hates me too!"

"No he doesn't. He's your brother and he loves you. Do _you_ hate Evan?"

I thought about that for a minute. "No. But I don't really like him right now. He scared me last night."

"Well that's probably how he feels about you right now. You did a really mean thing to him and you two need to apologize to each other."

"But it was just a prank."

"A prank once in a while is funny. But if you pull too many pranks people start to get mad and then they want to get even. And then it's not funny anymore. Did you have fun or think it was funny to pour syrup on Evan's saddle?"

"No. I felt mad inside. I just wanted to get him back."

"And that's why I wanted the pranks to stop," he said. He still sounds serious. "Now, I'm gonna ground you for a week. I know I said a month, but you didn't know that when you put the syrup on the saddle."

"Then why are you grounding me for a week?" I ask looking up at him.

"Because you lied to me about the syrup and the saddle. So, no adventuring with Guthrie, no riding Lucy, nothing. You come home from school, do your chores and then find something to do inside. Do you understand me?"

"That's gonna be so boring."

"I could make it a month."

"No thanks."

"Then get inside and go do what I told you to do."

"Okay." I dry my eyes. I get up and hug him. He hugs me back and then I climb down the ladder and walk over to the house. I can see Evan sitting on the porch steps. He sees me coming and we stare at each other while I walk over.

"Adam says we're supposed to make up," I say.

"I know."

"I'm sorry for pouring syrup on your saddle."

"How could you do that Heidi? You know how much that saddle means to me."

"Did I ruin it?"

"No. It came off."

"You poured cold water on me and then you made me get mad at Guthrie. And you really scared me last night. You know I get scared at night sometimes."

"I know, I'm sorry. The water was really meant for Guthrie though." He smiles.

"That would've been funny," I say smiling at him.

"Alright, what'd you say we call a truce," and he holds out his hand for me to shake.

"You got a deal!" I say and I shake his hand. Then we laugh and hug each other. "Are you grounded Evan?"

"Yeah. For a whole month. But it was worth it, I don't think I've ever heard you scream that loud before!" And he flicks my hat while laughing.

"Hey!" I laugh and try to grab his hat but he holds my wrists so I can't. I keep trying to get my arms free but he's a lot stronger. "Someday I'm gonna be stronger than you," and I smile and stick out my tongue at him.

"We'll see about that." He lets me go and we get up and walk into the house.

* * *

Hannah is standing in the living room and she smiles at us when we come in. "I'm glad to see you two made up."

"Adam made us," I say smiling at her.

"Yeah, otherwise we'd still be enemies," Evan says, and we both laugh.

"Heidi, I finished sewing your dress today. Would you like to try it on?" Hannah asks.

"Yes!" I run up the stairs.

"Wait for me!" Hannah says following me.

I go into Adam and Hannah's bedroom and see the dress laying on the bed. "I'll wait out here while you get it on," Hannah says. I quickly undress and put the dress on. I twirl in front of the mirror. It's perfect! "You can come in now," I call out to Hannah.

She opens the door and smiles at me. "You look beautiful," she says softly. I look over at her.

"Hannah, are you mad that Guthrie and I tricked you with the princess book?" I ask. She comes in and sits down on the bed.

"I was disappointed when I found out you tricked me," she says.

"Adam says that means you love me but I made you sad."

She laughs. "I guess that's one way of looking at it." She motions for me to sit next to her on the bed. "I love you Heidi," she says giving me a hug.

"I love you too." After a while I ask, "can I wear my dress for the rest of today? I'm grounded so I can't go outside and play."

"Sure you can," she says smiling at me. "Let's go see if any of your brothers are downstairs." We get up and all of a sudden I feel a little bit shy.

"What if they laugh at me?"

"They won't! I'll make sure of that!"

Hannah stands outside the bedroom door and I come out and walk over to the stairs. Of corse all my brothers would have to be inside! Guthrie's on the couch with Ford and Crane. Daniel, Evan, and Brian are on the other couch and Adam is at the bottom of the stairs. I walk slowly to the stairs. Hannah follows me giving me a little nudge now and then, as I walk downstairs. Pretty soon everyone has stopped what they're doing and they're all looking at me. They're smiling. Adam is smiling up at me and then I see him smile up at Hannah. Guthrie laughs and says, "you look like a girl!"

"Guthrie!" Hannah says giving him a warning. But I don't care. I get to the bottom of the stairs and twirl around. My brothers all start talking at once. Mostly I hear them say I look pretty. As I'm standing there Adam hugs Hannah and I hear them whisper.

"I'm so happy she has a woman in her life now. Someone who can be a mom to her." And he smiles and kisses her.

"You boys did a fine job of raising her, _dad_!" And Hannah kisses him.

I look up at them and I wonder what they're talking about. But then Daniel starts playing his guitar and Crane comes over and holds out his hand to me and says, "may I have this dance, little lady?" I smile and say, "yes. But I'm not little!" And we laugh and dance.

Daniel plays a few more songs and I get to dance with the rest of my brothers. It's fun and I like the way my dress flares out when they twirl me around. After a while Hannah and Brian go in the kitchen to get dinner ready and Adam and Crane look at the books. I sit on the couch next to Guthrie. He's looking at a magazine.

"Guthrie?" I ask. "What's a mom and dad like?"

He puts the magazine down and looks at me funny. "I don't know. Why?"

"Don't you remember our mom and dad? What were they like?"

"I don't remember them at all. I was two when they died. You should ask Ford though, 'cause he was six." He starts to look at the magazine again, but puts it down and says, "Heidi, what adventure should we go on next?"

"You mean when I'm done being grounded?"

"Yeah, we could look for bears again..."

"Or find buried treasure..."

"Or pan for gold?" He asks.

"Yeah! Maybe we should do that..."

* * *

**Thank you for the reviews. They help motivate me to write more.**


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